I Can't See What Anyone Can See in Anyone Else
by 4evrconfuzzled
Summary: The secret of Quinn's torch for Rachel is out! What does Rachel do  with this info? Why, of course make an agreement with Finn's girlfriend and  Quinn's captaincy rival to date Quinn and ruin her reputation in exchange for  Finn.
1. Cheating Cheerleaders and Confessions

**Disclaimer:** I think others can make a wittier disclaimer than I, so I'll just go with the tried and tested: I own nothing! Absolutely nothing at all. Glee is a property of Fox.

**Note:** Hello, fellow glee/ faberry enthusiast! This is my contribution to the current hiatus. Please kindly note that this is slightly AU, babygate did not happen and neither did Quinn date Finn. If you have read it please kindly click that button down below~ you know I want you to.

**Chapter 1**

**~Quinn~**

"_Don't say words that you don't mean"_

Ms. Pillsbury looked incredibly uncomfortable and right now, Quinn couldn't find it in her 'I-want-to-slightly-be-nice' newly improved persona to pity her. She just made detention more unbearable than how it usually is, not that she personally knows, but Santana had been to a lot, usually because of inappropriate behaviour, and Santana whined and whined some more on a daily basis, so Quinn had a fairly decent idea.

Santana coughed 'closet case' into her hand and Quinn quirked an eyebrow and resisted the urge to point out the irony, mostly because Santana is very, very prone to violence. Leaning her chair to rest in its two back legs, she lazily watched the overhead fan swirl and circle, cursing Figgins for the broken A/C and mindlessly listening to Karofsky continue his speech about not regretting throwing Kurt down another garbage bin. Quinn sighs and Brittany says "12" underneath her breath, Karofsky mentions Kurt again and Brittany says "13". Quinn tried not to laugh too loudly.

"Oh my god."

Quinn's chair slipped back into it's proper position with a loud thump and Quinn fixes Emma Pillsbury a glowering glare. _Don't use his name in vain_. Her head snaps forward though when Dave- fucking- Karofsky started wailing. Wailing! of all things.

"I regret it, I regret it. I didn't want to... but I can't, I dooon't want to look at hiiim... KUUURT!"

Brittany says "14!" triumphantly, Santana burst into shameless laughter and the eerie silence brought on by boredom permeating the detention room was broken. Quinn watched Ms. Pillsbury hurriedly browse through her bag and snatch her pamphlets nervously. She could almost see it: '_So you're a gay 6th grader with a crush... stop pulling his metaphorical braids_.' Quinn could almost read the regret the guidance counsellor must be feeling about taking on this detention class and suggesting this blasted activity.

"That's okay, that's okay, Dave. Why don't you seat down and we'll uhmm... we'll talk about this later at my office if you have the time." Ms. Pillsbury's words were shaking and she was clutching the desk so tightly her knuckles were turning white. Karofsky walks by them, head bent and sniffing. Quinn couldn't blame Santana when she started jeering at his pathetic loser ass.

"Well, that was... that was very good, Dave, very... honest. I expect the same honesty from all of you. Let's continue, alright."

The litanies of 'I regret this...' 'I regret that...' continued. The unusually full class filled the humid air with a series of 'I wouldn't do it again-s' and 'I didn't mean to-s'.

It was Brittany's turn and she skipped to the front happily, immediately blubbering about cats, ducks, talking too loudly, scaring away, in a jumbled mess that Quinn found amusing and that Santana discreetly listened intently, the blond could see the Latina's brows crunch together in concentration. She found it nauseatingly sweet and oddly... painful.

"I regret not pummeling JewFro's face, I regret not kicking the shit out of him for blabbing on us. I should have put him in a coma and ended his pathetic existence. I regret that most of all, actually. I regret bringing Q into this because she's a whiny bitch. No offense, Q..."

_Sure, Santana, I hope you like the bottom of the pyramid you'd be staying there for a loooong time_.

Santana continued the violent monologue for another 5 minutes and Quinn couldn't help but groan at every explicit detail of kicking, punching, and wedging coming from her mouth. Ms. Pillsbury looked horrified now, mouth opening and closing, eyes wide (wow, her eyes are so creepily wide). She coughed, spluttering incomprehensible words. Santana's turn ended with a smirk and an almost traumatized guidance counsellor.

"You better pay for my therapy."

"Oh wa wa wa, Q. Get over it."

She chose the reason she actually ended up here as her 'regretful' moment, walking up to the front and leaning her back into the teacher's table, hands entwining together, eyes to the floor, looking decidedly remorseful.

"I deeply regret trying to scare Principal Figgins with Vampires to get my way." Quinn began lowering her voice into shy territory, "I truly didn't mean for him to lose consciousness. I'm deeply sorry, and though this wasn't my idea but Santana's..." Santana snorted loudly "... I accept the consequences of my actions and am very remorseful towards the conclusion of our reckless act. I now know that a cheerio's spa isn't that terribly important."

"Wow, Q, go on and put the blame on me, why don't you." Santana says, as soon as Quinn had seated herself. She only laughed in answer.

...and the boredom continued.

Quinn watched Brittany doodle mindlessly on her notebook and pretended to just... .here.

"I still find this highly unfair, if I may say. Sunshine Corazon did not get hurt and it was an inactive crack house as I have already mentioned countless times and I simply cannot grasp the reason behind my detention. Nevertheless, I believe that participation in activities is conducive to my learning-"

"Get to it, Berry!" a random student goes and Quinn found it sad, very pathetically sad that she wanted to introduce her fist to his face.

Rachel took an annoyed breath, brandished a paper and cleared her throat.

" When I was nine, I entered a ballet competition. Of course, I had practiced meticulously, taking in consideratio-"

Rachel looked dazed, mouth still in that perfect 'o'.

_I took enunciation lessons, Quinn_.

She cleared her throat and looked down to the paper in her hand. "in conside-" brunette curls fell forward as she shook her head, paper crumpling in her tensed fist. Rachel closed her eyes, breathing so heavily, Quinn could see every inhale and exhale passing through her expanding and contracting chest. When she opened her brown orbs something has changed and all Quinn could do was avert her eyes to the parking lot outside. She could see Puck's truck, the setting sun illuminating the hood, making her feel hazy.  
>: :<em><br>_

_"Good day, Quinn."_

_Quinn blinked, looked around the crowded hallway, then back to her locker and the book in her hand and then back to Rachel Berry who was looking at her expectantly. She blinked again._

_"Quinn, it is only proper for you to greet me in return."_

_"Wha?... Yeah... yeah... hey, Berry." _

_Rachel blinked too and Quinn took that moment to look around, people were watching them now. _

_"May I talk to you in private?"_

_Quinn closed her locker, leaned her shoulder on it and fought off a shiver, it was kind of cold. She eyed the brunette for awhile, half-amused by the locked fingers and shifting weight, horrified but slightly finding the pig sweater adorable. _

_"And what? Be killed without a witness? No, thank you. Whatever it is you're going to blabber on today- sharp notes, animal rights,... argyle- you can say it here."_

_Rachel squared her shoulders and puffed out her chest. "Very well then..." she took a deep breath._

_"I would like to invite you out on a date."_

_Quinn stared at her. Rachel stared back defiantly. And with a horrified gasp, the words hit Quinn and she looked around hurriedly, glaring at students who had the nerve to stare at them. She seized Rachel's right wrist hurriedly and dragged her down the corridor._

_Kurt and Mercedes eyed them suspiciously when they barged into the choir room. Quinn tried to casually ask them to get the hell out- nicely, but from the way Kurt was looking at them like a dog presented with a bone, Quinn knew how spectacularly she had failed at casualness.  
>The door shut out the whispers and she could only hope that Mercedes would do damage control.<em>

_"That was very rude, Quinn."_

_Quinn glared at Rachel from her position by the door, hand gripping the knob behind her with so much intensity she might dent the metal. The brunette averted her eyes, fingers skimming on the black surface of the grand.  
><em>

_"What's your damage, Berry?"  
>"I don't understand what you mean, Quinn."<em>

_"What is wrong with you? Is this some annoying ploy to annoy me you annoying midget?"  
><em>

_Rachel blinked again, Quinn admits that that might have been confusing._

_"N..o... I am simply... expressing my... feelings. I am taking a chance."_

_Quinn knows that that wasn't possible, she spent 2 years making sure that that wasn't possible. Rachel couldn't possibly like her after all the taunts and the slushies. _

_but..._

_Here it was. The person she wanted the most, the person she spent her whole freshmen year hiding from as she listened to her sing. This was the chance she both feared and prayed for. She wouldn't have to watch her chase after Finn anymore, she wouldn't have to pretend that she feels nothing when she sometimes have to bite her tongue just to reel the words back in. _

_And YES! Blasphemous gods of humiliation, you had me at hello_.

_"...but... I understand if you do not desire such arrangements... I apologize and hope that you would not stoop to delinquent actions to express your displeasure... I-"_

_"Okay..."  
><em>

_Rachel blinked and Quinn stared down at the floor bewildered.  
><em>

_"Okay... you mean you agree?"_

_"I... get a freaking dictionary, Berry! Yes, okay... yes, I agree."_

_"Well that is excellent, I-I... well... I-"_

_"Yeah, whatever... I have cheerio practice. I- bye."_

_: :_

_It was only during the thoroughly fucked up practice that Quinn remembered, while being insulted and ridiculed by Couch Sylvester that they had totally glossed over all the detail- oh good going, Berry lose your Anal retentiveness when needed. _

_So, she called her that night._

_Rachel was chewing on something when she finally answered the phone and it was the most awkward conversation she had ever been privy to and she dated Noah Puckerman, once upon a mindless time!_

_"Rachel, please don't tell me you're chewing on some green leafy thing like a goat right now."_

_"Quinn, I am not chewing some 'green leafy thing' like a... a... goat right now."_

_"Do you mean that?"_

_"The like a goat part, certainly. I am eating a garden salad though."_

_She looked up the mirror above her vanity and she was grinning like a fool. "May I inquire about the business of this call, Quinn?" Rachel said after a pause where she could hear Rachel addressing someone who might be one of her fathers. The man was laughing and Rachel was ranting words a mile a minute that it was just a confusing buzz to Quinn's ears. _

_"I...I... you didn't tell me when."_

_More mannish laughter and Rachel huffing._

_"The specificity is overwhelming Quinn."_

_Quinn almost laughed, because 'look who discovered sarcasm', instead she just rolled her eyes... at thin air. "Rachel? Seriously? the thing..." she sighed. "The stupid date Rachel when is it?"_

_Rachel made a sudden choking sound and the laughter turned into "Oh god, baby, are you alright?"_

_The phone was put down with a loud thump that made Quinn groan, falling back to her bed and brushing her hair from her face, she started counting to 100, listening to the faint sounds of 'daddy Berrys' fuzzing over Rachel. _

_By '10' she was starting to worry._

_By '15' Rachel was back, voice slightly scratchy._

_"I apologize for that, and about the... date. I am quite busy this week and I think I am right to assume that you have cheerio practices so-"_

_"I'll skip it."_

_Quinn almost bit her tongue just to stop the words, get more desperate, Fabray, I dare you._

_"I...I mean... whatever... I... I'm captain anyway."_

_"O...kay. The next Monday, then?"_

_Quinn faintly contemplated acting like she was busy... which she actually was, she was invited to one of the cheerio's birthday party, but she had already succumbed to desperation so what the heck..._

_"Yeah, sure. Monday."_

_"8 sharp, at my house. Quinn, I expect you to be punctual. I do not need to remind you but, time is certainly gold, Quinn."_

_Quinn laughed. It was so typical. "But, patience is a virtue, Berry..."_

_An annoyed huff, "Not a virtue I abide by. Be on time."_

**~Rachel~**

The first thing Rachel could think was that being in a room with Quinn was suffocating her, like her own vocal cords were strangling her, _traitorous vocal cords_, and she didn't really want to go there, _god does she not want to go there_, but she knew that there she would go. Regrets... and isn't that what she regretted the most...(_at the current moment cause she is positive that along her successful would-be career she would have some regrets scandalously plastered on tabloids by those infuriating paparazzis)_, surely Ms. Pillsbury does not expect her to blubber on about how her greatest regret was sending Sunshine Corazon to that, as mentioned and reiterated by her countless of times, **inactive** crack house.

Quinn Fabray's hazel eyes, the color of sea water on that particular shade of sunlight,(or sometimes feces, when she infuriates her with her unfounded 'throw downs') disappears from her view as she closes her eyes, takes a breathe and says the expected words "I regret..." with a voice that tells her even through denial and the fact that nervousness does not exist in her vast vocabulary, that she was scared shitless of opening up this particular can of worms and figuratively throwing it at Quinn. She opens her eyes to a rapt audience except that one blonde girl averting her eyes to the windows outside.

Rachel Berry would not be ignored though.

: :

"_We need to talk."_

_Rachel looks up from her biology book to a red head cheerio towering over her. She looks around and she seemed to have zoned out again from her teacher's incessant rambling about cell division because that had been the lesson every single meeting in Biology as she realized that the class were all walking out the door. A hand slams heavily and loudly against her desk. She looks up and almost laughed because the cheerio could hardly hide the wince. Santana would have broken the table and wouldn't even flinch. She bets such a thing actually happened._

"_Did you not hear me, man-hands?"_

"_What is it that I can do for you?" she says curtly, closing her book and reaching for her bag. She didn't like Tony Cavanaugh at all, especially because she was the big villain in her love story with Finn. She had that put-off expression all the time too and when she bitched, she looked downright ugly. It wasn't the jealousy talking. At least Santana looked scary when she bitched, not ugly and Quinn looked… well like how Quinn always looks, angelic, but particularly scarier. _

"_I've got a proposition that you can't resist."_

"_I do not" she made air quotes "swing that way, not that I condone it, actually I'm rather support-"_

"_Do not even start with that, Berry!"_

_Rachel crosses her arms. "Well fine, please speak."_

"_You're trying to steal Finn away."_

_Rachel stood up immediately "I am doing no such thing, if Finn feels something towards me, that is his prerogative and I admit that I would be delighted if he did have such feelings, but I am not actively stealing him, I resent your opinion of my character!"_

_Tony smirks and raises both hands "Woah, slow down. Frankly, I am tired of Finn. I'll break up with him, so he could be all mopy and you could reel him in or whatever, curse him or something… I'll do it, you just have to do something for me."_

_Rachel snorts "and what's that? Do your project for you?" _

"_I'm not Brittany, smartass. So, do you want him?"_

_Rachel sits down again, studies the sure grin on the cheerio's face and had the urge to say No just to wipe the smug smile off her mediocre face. _

"_Yes." She admits sighing, defeated. Tony's grin widens and the only thing missing was the ominous music._

"_Well then, this could work out after all…"_

_Rachel nods "Speak."_

"_Well, Berry… it seems like Quinn Fabray had lost her mind."_

"_I do not know what that has to do with me or Finn, Quinn's with Noah Puckerman so I do not see the relevance."  
>"If you'd shut your big mouth maybe you will." <em>

_Rachel huffs "very well."  
>"So… you do now that I was the captain of the cheerios before Quinn stole it from me, by, I don't know, probably bribing Sylvester or whatever." Rachel mutters 'by talent' under her breath but nodded for the other girl to continue. <em>

"_I want that position back and you're going to help me. You hate Quinn, she's been tormenting you since first year and well, I'm about to tell you why."_

"_Please." Rachel gestures with her hand for the other to stop pausing and continue on "I have dance class."_

"_Fabray's a light weight, a few bottles of wine cooler and Santana and Brittany running off to make out somewhere, had little miss perfect spilling her guts out to moi." She points to herself, Rachel twitches to remind her to hurry up again. "… and you won't ever believe the repression going under that 'I love God' façade. Quinn-captain- of- the- celibacy- club- Christ- crusader- Fabray is in love with… wait for it—"_

"_I don't have the time to wait for it!"_

"_It's a fucking expression, Berry! You ruined the damn moment! YOU! Ha! Bet you didn't expect that!"_

_Rachel gapes for a moment because of the sheer happiness on the cheerleaders face, then she snorts._

"_Oh yeah, sure. She's in love with me, the big gulps must have had love letters underneath." _

"_Have you never heard of repression, Berry, and I'm this close to slapping you so stop the sarcasm."_

_Rachel wipes a hand over her face in exasperation and then stared at it disgustingly, such an unhygienic habit to pick up. "Is Quinn behind this? Please tell her to stop being a child." _

_She moves to stand up. Tony pushes her shoulder's down, she swats at her hands, "Berry. Believe me, Fabray's got it so bad for you." Rachel snorts again._

"_Finn and revenge… Rachel. You can have everything you wanted, you just have to ask."_

_Rachel looks away, she knows that it would be idiotic and laughable for her to fall for this, but Finn keeps giving her puppy eyes in practice, keeps throwing her longing looks as he got hauled away by the arm by Tony or as he sat with her on the cafeteria staring across the room to Rachel. She wanted him and she always wanted too much._

"_O…kay. I'll hear this out."_

"_Awesome. So, you're going to ask Quinn out on a date—"_

"_Wait, why me?" she whined._

"_Didn't you hear me say R-E-P-R-E-S-S-I-O-N. So, ask her out, believe me she'll say yes. You can't even imagine how far gone she already is. Ask her, get in a secret relationship with her, because well, you've seen her parents, they're the ones who constantly glare at your fathers during PTA meetings. Pressure her into telling the school, her stocks would plummet like woah and then I'll seize it. Break up with Finn, Break up with Quinn. You, Finn, Me, Captain. The end." _

"_Do you even have substantial proof that Quinn likes me?"_

_The cheerleader rolls her eyes, "We are going on a pathetic, infuriating circle. Yes, I have. The drunken love declaration as I said, and she fucking joined that loser black hole of a club!" _

"_With Quinn's GPA I have no doubt that she realized that glee club is an excellent place to hone her talents. Furthermore, Brittany had already slipped that they were moles. "  
>"that's her reason to coach but she's there to moon at you subtly, Berry. Trust me."<em>

"_Fine, let's say that that flimsy argument actually reeled me in. That's it? I date her, I make her tell, I break up with her? What if she doesn't tell?"_

"_Then take pictures of you kissing or whatever." _

_Tony shrugs, Rachel fumes. "This is obviously not a well thought out plan._

"_Whatever Berry, you in?"_

_Rachel inhales deeply, telling herself not to give in to temptation but suddenly Finn's by the door, saying 'come on, babe' to Tony but looking at Rachel so sadly it breaks her heart. _

_Rachel looks up to Tony's smug smile. "I am 'in'"._


	2. Dads, Detention and Dinner

**CHAPTER 2**

**~Quinn~**

"_like there's no sunrise like the taste of your smile"_

Santana growled so suddenly, Quinn jerked away from her. 

It was Rachel, Santana had caught on to this 'riveting' story.

"... I believe that I am beginning to sound confusing, why don't I address this person as 'Admirer A'."

Quinn rolled her eyes. _Admirer A, how neat_. How degrading.

"So, I asked and admirer A agreed, our first date was... something... well it was disastrous... actually. Admirer A was late, a whole 10 minutes late!" Rachel huffed. _Big deal, considering you were just playing with me_! Santana growled again.

"10 minutes! What horrors!" She mocked.

Rachel ignored her. "Our date started on an insult that Admirer A thought she could pass of as humor. Admirer A was a horrible liar when complimenting vegetarian food... my father Tommy almost wanted to cry because Admirer A couldn't hide the grimaces no matter how hard admirer A tried. I even found this person eating Bacon in the comfort room." A hint of a smile played on Rachel's face, _must be imagining how humiliating I freaking looked_. "Then the white wine was presented and my fathers got drunk, slobbering all over each other... in... compromising positions... "

: :

_The date was more awkward than the telephone conversation. It couldn't even be called a date since Rachel's fathers were there. Quinn said the dumbest thing the moment Rachel opened the door._

_"Vain much, Berry. What's up with putting your face in your sweater?"_

_Rachel got adorably confused fast. Brows knitting together and lower lip jutting out into a pout. She looked down, then she was just mad._

_" Very funny, Quinn. Remind me again to give you one of these."_

_There was a monkey on her sweater._

_: :_

_The dinner was... horrible. The vegetarian crap was so bland, the water tasted better. She almost wanted to cry when they brought out whatever shit they were trying to pass of as Bacon on the table.  
><em>

_The other with the glasses... Tommy, asked her how was the food and she was thinking 'kill me now' but she was sure she said 'Wonderful, Mr. Berry." Rachel was hiding in her napkin but Quinn could hear her giggle._

_Tommy looked depressed by the end of the dinner, but... but... she tried her best!_

_: :  
><em>

_Rachel first looked horrified and then horrifyingly amused when she found Quinn hunched over a tupperware of bacon- courtesy of Mercedes, angel!- in the bathroom. Quinn could only quirk an eyebrow before Rachel was laughing. Laughing so freely, Quinn didn't mind the humiliation that much, instead when Rachel guffawed, she snuck a piece of Bacon into the brunette's mouth.  
><em>

_Rachel spent the whole scrabble game spelling things like 'murder' 'pig' and 'cruelty' on the board. How she managed it, Quinn would never know._

_::_

_The white wine bottle was drained by David and James. Rachel wasn't allowed even a drop of it and Rachel glared her into declining._

_"You didn't have to bring anything, Quinnie." David said, halfway through his 5th glass and Quinn just grinned at him._

_"Believe me, Mr. Berry, you're helping our family by drinking that bottle."_

_By the time they were making out in the couch, Rachel had pushed her out the door. _

_Quinn looked up into starless night sky. _

_"It's going to be raining soon."_

_Rachel nodded, looked inside to her fathers still doing the happy, her face was hilariously and worryingly pale. _

_"I guess... well this was..." "horrible."_

_Rachel paled more and then she was just flushed and angry. She jabbed a finger to Quinn's chest. _

_"It isn't all MY fault, you didn't have to be so CRASS!"_

_She was adorable._

_Quinn laughed and then just for the hell of it seized her by the wrist and pulled her in for a hug. Rachel smelled so clean._

_"I... tell you what... it wasn't horrible... per se... I- ithadyousoit'sokay... I'm going home."  
>She stepped back, releasing Rachel who was wide-eyed.<em>

_"It was horribly great..." Quinn smirked, "just like you." _

**~Rachel~**

Rachel made a quick sweep of the room with her eyes, glossing over Noah who happens to be in detention-_again_- for the 4th time that week leering at Brittany, and even in her unfocused state she could see Santana Lopez fuming in anger and, as per her peers' slang, flipping him the bird. She barely registered the twinge of annoyance that passed through her after spotting one of her fellow detention mate sleeping while she was obviously passionately speaking her mind. Her eyes registered the room in one blurry swirl of colors until she found Quinn, sitting in her chair, both hands clasped together on the desk, looking in her general direction but not really seeing her. She could feel that thing coiling in her stomach again, and as Quinn turns and averts her eyes again to the parking lot outside she could feel it expanding and crawling up to her chest. She took a deep breath because god... people already thought she was a drama queen, she didn't need to cry in detention class to add to it.

Quinn swallows down audibly, tilts her chin up a little and Rachel could feel her eyes watering.

She didn't need them both to cry in the middle of McKinley's dreary detention.

: :

_Quinn Fabray was beautiful. Not even she could deny that and with the lithe light the moon was throwing over her features, playing with her admittedly extraordinary bone structure, that fact had never been truer. Rachel watches her for a moment, the door knob still in her hands, the lyrics of Chris Bell's speed of sound playing from the vinyl as her father Randy began to sing with it, the small puff of breath Quinn was breathing out, making her head hazy. The blond raises her hand for a moment, makes like she was going to hold Rachel's hand that was on her side, that weird look coming over her face, but then she drops it and that's what woke Rachel up from her trance_.

_Then Quinn went and insulted her, and all her earlier thoughts were negated._

_: :_

_The blonde looks around their living room the moment she stepped foot in it and Rachel understands that, Quinn had always been inquisitive. Quinn skimmed her eyes over the framed vinyl-s hanging in the walls to the battered couch that her father's didn't want to throw away because of a memory of a summer's Sunday, to the flat screen T.V. equipped with high defined stereo's that Rachel begged her father's for and to the carpet designed to look like bear skin with its matching head to boot. Quinn turns to her at that, an eyebrow tilted up and amusement in her hazel eyes. _

_Rachel shrugs and shoots a look to their kitchen, where she could now see her dads slow dancing. She thinks she threw up in her mouth a little. "It's my dad's… Randy. He does things like this once in a while to irritate my dad and I. We're both vegans and daddy isn't." _

_Quinn laughs a little and Rachel finds herself leaning in to hear it better. _

"_Boundaries, Berry."_

_She clears her throat as Quinn proceeds to the mantle above their synthetic fireplace, skimming her hands over Rachel's memories on frames, fingers sliding on glass. _

"_Well, Quinn, first let us go over our itinerary for the night so that if you have reactions or suggestions you can inform me about it and we shall adjust our plans accordingly, well the first thing on th—"_

"_I don't care, Berry. Just… just… I'm not going to complain about anything, well maybe your clothes a bit—but.. it's okay… or whatever." Quinn finishes fidgeting again and looking at a spot behind Rachel's right shoulder. _

"_Actually… I brought something for your dads."_

"_You didn't have to."_

_Quinn smiled a genuine smile that borders more on mischief than happiness. _

"_Oh, believe me Rachel. I'm actually doing myself a favour, we have tons of this at home and well… when it's over, it doesn't look nice." She raises a bottle of tequila into Rachel's view neatly wrapped in some decorative paper._

: :

_Her fathers both eye Quinn warily as the blonde sat down with them at the dinner table after complimenting everything and anything in the Berry household, her voice breaking sometimes or registering a pitch higher, she even hit her foot in the table's leg in her haste to shake hands and help her daddy who was then putting down plates._

"_So what do you think of the food?" her daddy Tommy said, pushing his spectacles up his nose and tilting his head down to peer at her. Quinn coughed a little, ran a shaky hand through her blonde locks and beamed at her father, and Rachel had to say it was pretty amazing how effortlessly she pulled herself together. _

"_It was very delicious, sir. I particularly enjoyed the uhmm... stir fry." She says, smiling in that way that only people with __**that**__ certain kind of face could quite execute._

_Her daddy smiled back because she must admit that well... who could not? She almost laughed out loud though as her dad raised an eyebrow at her and both of them smiled at the memory of Quinn's first taste of their meal: The blonde raised her spoon of _faken_ to eyelevel, peered at them and then made a little fist pump with her left hand, murmured something that suspiciously sounded like 'you can do it, Fabray' and shakily brought the utensil to her mouth, that slight cringe between her eyebrows deepening, her face perceptibly freezing up to avoid frowning... or vomiting. She then looked around again to probably gauge if they had noticed her reaction._

_Rachel found it confusing the way she was finding Quinn's antics adorable and slightly fascinating... for Barbara's sake, the girl was insulting her daddy's cooking and she was finding it enchanting._

_It was terribly confusing her though, because from Quinn's clever little greeting at the start of that evening, to her fathers' disapproving stance of the whole thing, Rachel thought that the night would be horrible and that all she'll want was to push Quinn Fabray out the door. But from the moment Quinn started bumping her body parts on furniture Rachel could feel the indignation just pouring off of her into thin air. And that moment, standing in the bathroom entrance hunched down in disbelieving laughter she realized that the indignation was no longer there, charmed away by this other side of Quinn Fabray-this bumbling, stuttering version, shoving illicit bacon down her throat like a starving person, so obviously and almost desperately trying to prove herself. If she had her doubts before, every little peeks of Quinn's hazel eyes in her direction every other second had completely obliterated it. How had she not seen this before? An admirer with this degree of devotion! _

_When she was watching Quinn walk back to her car at the end of the night, the blonde turning and walking backwards just to wave at her some more, that flash of smile almost lighting up the darkness around her, when she had moved forward to wave back instead of turning around and closing the door, Rachel realizes that she had enjoyed the evening immensely, enjoyed it so much she didn't want her to leave._


End file.
